A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This invention relates generally to engines and, more particularly, to performing engine diagnostics using a computer.
Many known internal combustion engines for use with watercraft include an electronic control unit (ECU) for controlling at least some operations of the engine. In a typical implementation, an ECU is electrically connected to engine components such as the engine ignition, lubrication pumps, water circulation system (if any) and fuel injectors. The ECU controls timing of the engine ignition and fuel injection in accordance with a pre-programmed control program.
In order to determine whether an engine is operating properly, and to assist in diagnosing an engine failure, an external computer can be coupled to a communications port of the ECU. A diagnostic program implemented in computer software, such as the BMCA FFI engine diagnostic software available from Bombardier Motor Corporation of America, Waukegan, Ill., is loaded in the external computer. Fault codes stored in the ECU memory are read by the external computer, and the fault codes are indicative of certain messages that are then displayed to the operator. In addition, an operator may input commands via a keyboard of the computer and/or touch screen, and based on the operator inputs, the external computer instructs the ECU to run diagnostic tests on the engine.
Outboard engines are sold in many different countries, and the diagnostic software interface should be capable of displaying text messages in at least one of many different languages. Generating many different software versions that display text messages in different respective languages can be costly. For example, tracking and delivering diagnostic software to many different customers worldwide in accordance with the language needs of each specific customer is burdensome and error prone.
In addition to fault codes, other information such as engine speed, battery voltage and alternator voltage can be displayed on various separate screens. Use of these separate screens, however, can be cumbersome.
Current diagnostic software requires the throttle to be reduced to idle in order to run the diagnostic software package. Current diagnostic software also does not provide a service report which can be printed immediately or saved in a computer. This leaves both the customer and repairmen with less than full information.
Replacement of the ECU is complicated due to the need to customize the ECU to the particular engine. The need to customize the ECU makes it a time consuming repair operation and thus increases the cost to the customer of repairs involving replacement of the ECU.
If the diagnostic software is used on engines having fuel injectors, there has previously been no way to verify that the ECU is customized to the proper fuel injectors except for running operational tests and determining if the fuel injectors are working properly.
The present invention, in one aspect, is a method for operating a computer to display text messages in any one of a plurality of selectable languages. Text files for each selectable language are stored in the non-volatile memory of the computer, and based on an operator selection, text files corresponding to the selected language are copied from non-volatile memory to the computer random access memory (RAM). The text files in RAM are utilized by the computer processor to generate screen displays.
More specifically, a typical computer includes a processor, a random access memory (RAM), and a non-volatile memory such as a read only memory (ROM). The RAM and the ROM are coupled to the processor. Text files corresponding to various selectable languages are stored in ROM, and a default language is copied from ROM into RAM. The processor, after start-up of the computer and initialization of the program, generates screen displays using the text file stored in RAM.
If an operator desires to have the screen displays in one of the other selectable languages, then upon receipt of the appropriate command, the text file or files corresponding to the desired language are copied from ROM into RAM, and the processor then uses newly copied text files in RAM to generate the screen displays. As a result, the screen displays are in the user selected language.
In addition to the language improvements, the diagnostic software, in one embodiment, improves the display of air temperature, water temperature, ECU temperature, ignition duration and TPS actual values when connected to a water cooled ECU.
In one embodiment, the diagnostic software allows starting of software with the engine at running speed, provides a full-service report, permits copying of engine-specific information from an original ECU into a service replacement ECU, and enables fuel injector serial numbers to be identified.